That Kind of Soul

An old bluesman tells a young man about his offer from the devil.

 

     It was six in the afternoon, the sun wasn’t hanging as high as it would’ve liked, but no one else minded; high noon in Arkansas gets pretty muggy. I was outside of Little Rock, new to the area at the time, moving from Columbus, Ohio in search of real people; tired of the same old Columbus hipster scene. I had an apartment near downtown, but at this moment I was a little further out, taking the I-40 toward Memphis and turning off onto the most desolate, dirt road exit I could find. I parked my car inside of a tiny town called Leroy, and walked down the square until I ran into a small black man plucking an acoustic guitar underneath some trees. It was some old blues song, I wasn’t sure which one, or who did it for that matter, probably some old Howlin’ Wolf or Leadbelly tune. He sang with a raspy twang, like an old black bluesman would. I stopped to admire his playing, looking around him for a collection plate. When I didn’t see one, I came to the conclusion that he was only playing for his own amusement, and I felt a bit like a racist. He finished playing, tipped his straw hat and greeted me.

 

    “How long have you been playing?” I asked with my thumbs hanging below my pockets. He looked like he was in his fifties.

 

     “Oh me?” he asked pointing to himself. “Well ah been playin’ for darn near forty years!”

 

    “Oh wow, well you play the blues like a madman,” I said smiling. “I wish I had that kind of soul.”

 

    “Yeah,” he smiled back. “Ah steel gots mine…some men who can play the git-tar ain’t got they’s no mo’, but ah neva potted wit mine.” He pulled a corn cob pipe from his pocket and began to smoke. “Ah ‘memba when the devil wanted to make a deal,” he said wistfully.

 

    “The Devil wanted your soul?” I asked.

 

    “Yep,” he said taking a puff and puckering his lips. “He says Ollie, thas my name, he says Ollie, lemme make you a deal.” I took a seat across the sidewalk. “He says, you play that git-tar real good, but if you wanna really play that git-tar, you wanna make a deal with me.”

 

    “How’d you know it was him?” I asked. “Did he introduce himself? What was he wearing?” I could have kept going, but I realized a barrage of questions wouldn’t give me any answers.

 

     He laughed, noticing my anxiousness. “I just knew,” he said. “When you git ‘pproached by the devil, you know it’s him.” I leaned back in awe. “Anyway I says, what kind of deal? He says, yo’ soul, I want your soul. I says I can’t do that I says, I says my soul is all I got.” I laughed out loud. “He says that’s the offer, and I says I’m sorry sir, that’s an offer I cain’t cash.” He played a little blues lick with his smoking pipe hanging from his mouth. When he was done he sat his guitar on the grass and stood up, brushing whatever was on his trousers off with his calloused hands. He leaned toward me and smiled. “You cain’t play no music without no soul, devil or not,” he told me grabbing his guitar and walking toward the little blue house behind him. “You ‘memba that now!” He yelled waving and walking through the open door. 

 

    “You can’t play no music without no soul,” I whispered to myself. If anything’s worth remembering, I guess that’s it.    

 

Author's Note

Let me know what you think, thanks for reading!

Reviews

[H-Jonesy]

i enjoyed reading this, the begining was what kept me reading your discription was spot on. as for the old man playing the blues, i normaly would have said that i would like a little more discription on him but the way you wrote the story, and the little ditails like how he talked was enough for me to feel like i allready know him.
as for the last line, "You can't play no music without no soul," thats as true as it will ever be

[WriterMe]

The description in the first paragraph was gorgeous. I think the story was perfect. Short and simple. Very authentic with the language. I think you included all the details needed without making it sound draggy. Loved the last line "You can't play no music without no soul'' =]

[Shayna]

I really enjoyed reading this story. My favorite part was the introduction. It really captures one's attention. I also thought you wrote the dialogue very well. Maybe you might consider expanding the story a little bit more in the middle. For example, before the old man begins to tell his story you might want to add some more details about the narrator's reaction and what was going through his head when the old man said the devil wanted his soul. I really liked the ending; it fit well with the mood of the story.